Bone density determination of moose skeletal remains from Isle Royale National Park using digital image enhancement and quantitative computed tomography (QCT)

As part of an investigation of prey vulnerability in Isle Royale National Park, MI, digital image processing techniques were used to enhance original quantitative computed tomography (QCT) film products to detail the processes of bone resorption and reformation in skeletal remains of moose (Alces alces). Integration of these two allied imaging technologies allowed analyses of pixels representing fractions of millimetres of bone. Using regression analysis, linear conversions from the pixel digital numbers (DN) to QCT Hounsfield units (HU) to actual bone mineral density (BMD) values were calculated (r²=0.99), and a scale of pixels per millimetre of bone was determined. The colour-enhanced image revealed quantifiable patterns of density, porosity and asymmetry. In addition, the procedure provided a quick but consistent methodology for evaluating numerous scans. Combining the limited use of a high-demand and expensive medical QCT scanner with a lower cost, readily available digital image processing and analysis system provides a technique for researchers to investigate the bone integrity of individual animals and populations. This method of evaluating bone density has implications for use in determining differential skeletal part-preservation in archaeofaunal studies. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Digitally Mediated Iconoclasm: the Islamic State and the war on cultural heritage

This paper puts forward the new analytical framework of ‘Digitally Mediated Iconoclasm’ (DMI) to analyse and interpret iconoclastic acts that are experienced through the propaganda (videos, social media, photographs, and other media) that the actor perpetrating the destruction makes available in global information networks for its consumption, duplication, and distribution. DMI captures three stages of the destruction (before, during and after the event) as both evidence of that destruction and as a perdurable digital archive. To demonstrate the relevance of DMI, we focus on an analysis of the videos and photographs depicting heritage destruction at pre-monotheistic sites targeted by the Islamic State (IS), such as Palmyra in Syria, the Mosul Cultural Museum, Nineveh and Nimrud in Iraq. The analysis focuses on the three stages that DMI comprises, showing the different photographic and audio-visual production techniques that the IS uses to enhance the tension that is built up leading to the destruction of cultural heritage while allocating material and human resources to produce digital propaganda. This analysis demonstrates how the analytical framework of DMI can be used to advance important work in heritage and media studies.     

新津观音寺明代壁画图像的计算机自动虚拟修复研究

文物领域利用数字化文物通过网络媒介传播文物信息已经成为一种文物交流的新趋势。如何更好地利用采集的文物数字化档案,发挥数字文物的作用是进行文物数字化的最终目的。为此,针对新津观音寺明代壁画各种病害造成的不同程度的缺损状况,利用数字图像修复技术对其进行了计算机自动虚拟修复研究。研究表明,Criminisi基于样本的图像修复算法可利用图像小波域的小波系数优化因子,保证算法对不同纹理程度的图像采用适当的优化因子值以实现修复策略的调整,其采样的"素材"同实际壁画修复一样来自于画面已知区域,在观音寺壁画数字图像上有较好的虚拟修复效果。     

旅游目的地形象的测量与分析——以南京在华东区域内的比较性研究为例

旅游目的地形象对旅游者的目的地决策具有重要影响,因而关于其实际测量和分析的研究成为国内外旅游研究的重点内容之一。我国该领域研究虽然在开展市场调查和定量统计分析方面已取得长足进展,但仍存在研究视角和方法过于单一的突出局限。因此,本文将着眼点放在旅游者需求和区域内竞争对手这两个经常被忽视的要素上,将它们纳入研究设计之中,以南京为案例目的地,通过综合运用重要性-表现分析法(IPA)和对应分析法(CA)系统阐释了如何从这两个角度来测量和分析目的地形象的基本路径。研究识别了南京当前形象在满足旅游者需求上的优、劣势以及其独特的差异化优势属性,对其形象管理的资源配置和竞争性形象定位战略的开发具有重要启示。     

NISP, Bone Fragmentation, and the Measurement of Taxonomic Abundance

Zooarchaeologists have long recognized that the number of identified specimens (NISP) is dependent on the degree to which bones are fragmented, but attempts are rarely made to control for the effects of fragmentation on NISP. This paper provides insight into those effects by presenting both a formal model of the relationship between NISP and fragmentation and experimental data on that relationship. The experimental data have practical implications regarding the effectiveness of potential measures of bone fragmentation, suggesting that specimen size—which can be determined easily through digital image analysis—is more useful than other variables that have been or might be used as fragmentation measures.     

A feminist perspective on digital geographies: activism,affect and emotion,and gendered human-technology relations in Australia

Feminist digital geographies are an important part of the digital turn currently underway in geographic scholarship. At the same time, feminist movements are taking advantage of, and emerging from, digital spaces. This article considers how the digital intersects with gender and what opportunities the digital affords feminist movements. We do so by drawing on a case study of feminist activism within Destroy the Joint (DTJ), an online social media activist group, and build a qualitative analysis of a dynamic, reflexive digital space. Qualitative studies of emotion, affect and the power of digital geographies, including social media spaces populated by groups like DTJ, demonstrate how cultural and social practices are changing along with technologies. This research does not draw on a techno-deterministic approach to digital geographies but forwards a feminist perspective that critically engages with the constraints and possibilities of the complex, paradoxical and contingent within the digital.     

韩国潜在游客的中国旅游目的地意象认知与行为意图

旅游目的地意象是20世纪70年代以来,地理学和旅游学等学科交叉生成的研究命题,是旅游目的地市场细分、市场定位及竞争分析的重要工具。本文选择中国近缘文化群体客源市场,也是中国最大的入境客源市场韩国为研究对象,以非结构式和结构式研究相互结合的方式,研究分析了韩国潜在游客对中国的旅游目的地意象认知及行为意图,研究结果显示：（1）韩国潜在游客对中国的旅游目的地意象认知由四个基本维度构成,分别是平和、愉悦、动感与现代,其中,平和、愉悦和现代与旅游目的地意象呈正相关关系;（2）韩国潜在游客对中国的旅游目的地意象认知与其行为意图呈正相关关系;（3）中国旅游目的地意象的平和、愉悦特征对韩国潜在游客行为意图有明显的正向影响,呈正相关关系。     

Surfaces from the Visual Past: Recovering High<Emphasis Type="Bold">-</Emphasis>Resolution Terrain Data from Historic Aerial Imagery for Multitemporal Landscape Analysis

Historic aerial images are invaluable sources of aid to archaeological research. Often collected with large-format photogrammetric quality cameras, these images are potential archives of multidimensional data that can be used to recover information about historic landscapes that have been lost to modern development. However, a lack of camera information for many historic images coupled with physical degradation of their media has often made it difficult to compute geometrically rigorous 3D content from such imagery. While advances in photogrammetry and computer vision over the last two decades have made possible the extraction of accurate and detailed 3D topographical data from high-quality digital images emanating from uncalibrated or unknown cameras, the target source material for these algorithms is normally digital content and thus not negatively affected by the passage of time. In this paper, we present refinements to a computer vision-based workflow for the extraction of 3D data from historic aerial imagery, using readily available software, specific image preprocessing techniques and in-field measurement observations to mitigate some shortcomings of archival imagery and improve extraction of historical digital elevation models (hDEMs) for use in landscape archaeological research. We apply the developed method to a series of historic image sets and modern topographic data covering a period of over 70 years in western Sicily (Italy) and evaluate the outcome. The resulting series of hDEMs form a temporal data stack which is compared with modern high-resolution terrain data using a geomorphic change detection approach, providing a quantification of landscape change through time in extent and depth, and the impact of this change on archaeological resources.     

Diagnostic morphometric applicability of confocal laser scanning microscopy in Osteoarchaeology

The confocal laser scanning microscope (CLSM) has become an essential tool for a wide range of biological and clinical studies and imaging applications. The major imaging modes of the CLSM include single and serial optical sections from thick specimens (100 µm), multiple wavelength images and three‐dimensional reconstruction. Such images provide measurement of length, surface or volume of objects. Surprisingly, this advanced microscopic method has been very rarely used in anthropological research, although numerous clinical and basic science research projects showed its value to study, bone growth, bone micro‐architecture and 3D bone morphometry. We present the basic principles and advantages of CLSM and outline practical aspects of specimen preparation, image collection and digital image processing specifically appropriate for historical bone and hair material. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Persia through the Lens: Poetics and Politics of Architectural Photographs in Pahlavi Iran

Having been introduced to the scholarly community and the general public through a variety of photographic presentations during the inter-war period, monuments in Iran, particularly those of pre-modern Islamic periods, became key buildings to be seized upon as the ultimate embodiment of Persian beauty. The lasting image of Persian Islamic architecture that was articulated through photographs continues not only to set an important benchmark for the understanding of the aesthetic and political matrix of the early twentieth century but also to provoke a methodological question as to the future of Persian architectural studies.     

秦始皇帝陵出土二号青铜马车彩绘夔龙纹复原方法研究

为对秦始皇陵出土的彩绘铜车马采取非接触且科学可靠的方法开展研究,选择使用高光谱成像技术,以非接触方式无损地获取文物表面信息。通过对信息的处理与分析,实现对于文物表面彩绘纹样的发现与复原工作。针对秦始皇帝陵出土的二号青铜车马彩绘纹样的受损情况,提出了结合高光谱成像技术与计算机图像技术的数字复原方法。主要是利用了高光谱成像技术“图谱合一”的优势:一方面利用其在近红外区域的高光谱成像结果检测并复原出彩绘纹样难以识别的图案边缘信息;另一方面利用高光谱数据中的光谱信息,将铜车马彩绘纹样上未知矿物颜料的光谱同实验建立的矿物颜料标准光谱库进行拟合,识别出铜车马上彩绘所采用的颜料种类(雄黄1、石青5、石绿1、黄丹、铅白等),从而获得色彩信息。实验结果显示该方法可以得到较为完整的铜车马彩绘纹样的数字复原图像,并为今后对于铜车马更深入的研究和应用提供有利支撑。     

旅游形象研究中问卷调查和网络文本数据的对比——以西安旅游形象感知研究为例

旅游目的地形象测量的主要途径为问卷调查,随着互联网的普及,越来越多的研究者也开始通过在线评论等网络数据来研究旅游目的地形象,然而对于这两种数据之间的相互关系以及其应用于研究的可靠性还是鲜有涉及。本文以西安为例,通过问卷调查和网络评论两种途径获取游客对西安旅游形象的感知数据,并通过数据分析、内容挖掘软件和文本分析等方法,从旅游目的地形象感知因子、整体形象感知、代表性景点三方面对两组数据进行对比分析。研究发现：（1）在西安旅游形象感知的研究中,对调查问卷和网络文本获取的数据进行分析的结果呈现出相对一致性;（2）问卷中非结构化部分的内容和网络文本中提取的内容呈现出高度一致性;（3）与问卷调查数据相比,网络文本数据几乎不涉及游客对旅游＂社会形象＂的感知。     

Archaeological Site Information Modelling and Management Based on Close-Range Photogrammetry and GIS

New challenges in management and restoration of archaeological sites require the utilization of advanced technologies and systems to assist in preserving the important legacy of human heritage. These challenges include monitoring and preserving of site landscapes, maintenance and rehabilitation of archaeological structures, and quality and safety management. In this research, an integrated methodology based on photogrammetry and Three-Dimensional (3D) Geographic Information System (GIS) is developed to capture and model essential details needed for the proper management of archaeological sites. Recent advances in digital imagery and modelling utilize photogrammetry as an efficient technique for 3D modelling of archaeological sites to derive accurate measurements of size, shape, position, and texture of objects using two-dimensional digital photographs. Spatial data that include aerial stereo photographs, satellite images, close-range photos, terrestrial surveying and Global Positioning Systems (GPS) are integrated within the design of the proposed model. The approach is validated with a case study of Ajloun Castle, one of the ancient and important preserved structures located in Jordan. Various sequential levels of details have been developed for the castle: Orthophoto, Digital Elevation Model (DEM), structures geometry and site layout and 3D textured model. The suggested methodology is expected to be efficient in modelling and documenting archaeological structures. The developed model is utilized to assess the management of archaeological structures through feasibility analysis, rehabilitation decisions, and safety planning.     

数字近景摄影测量在秦始皇陵百戏坑考古中的应用研究

既要保留遗迹在不同阶段的信息资料,又不影响发掘研究工作的继续进行,一直是考古工作者探索研究的问题。为配合秦始皇陵百戏俑坑的考古发掘工作,为后续考古研究和文物遗迹的保护提供必要的基础信息资料,针对大场景考古发掘现场,通过数字全站仪对文物挖掘现场布设的一定数量控制点进行观测获取其三维点位坐标。利用非量测数码相机获取现场多航带序列影像,通过数码相机检校、自动空中三角测量、影像特征提取与影像匹配、数字微分纠正等数字近景摄影测量方法,获取反映发掘现场文物分布情况的数字高程模型(DEM)和正射影像(DOM)数据。在生成的正射影像图上进行文物轮廓线条的提取,获得发掘现场文物的正射投影矢量图。实现文物位置、形状及分布的平面量测。实验证明:该方法不仅可大面积、快速获取文物挖掘现场文物分布的正射投影平面图,实现考古数字制图,而且能保证一定的精度。具有较高的推广应用价值。     

Heterogeneity effects on possible salinity-driven free convection in low-permeability strata

Although studies of free convection commonly focus on highly permeable strata, but numerical analyses indicate that density-driven free convection may also occur in heterogeneous low-permeability strata. Traditional Rayleigh number criteria are overly conservative in predicting thermohaline convection in these systems; so, numerical models are used to make inferences on the process. Simulations with stochastic realizations of permeability fields show that dense plumes can take preferential pathways to sink through generally low-permeability strata; patch analysis using percolation theory shows that the threshold permeability for the onset of free convection can be as low as 10⁻¹⁶ m² even with a mean permeability of 10⁻¹⁸ m². Threshold permeability for the percolation pathways decreases with increasing concentration gradient, vertical correlation length and the mean and variance of the permeability. The connectedness of relatively high-permeability zones is important in initiating and controlling plume fingers of free convection in both single-layer and sand-shale sequence models. Permeable units above and below are conducive to free convection through intervening low-permeability strata if buoyancy gradients exist. This heterogeneity is on scales that are difficult to sample by drilling and too localized to be simulated in regional models but may be significant in solute transport in these systems.     

New Light on the Medieval Gough Map of Britain

Remarkably little is known about the earliest surviving separate-sheet medieval map of Britain that takes its name from its former owner, Richard Gough (1735–1809), and that has been variously dated to between 1300 and 1400, and later. It presents a sophisticated cartographical image at a time when detailed maps of individual regions were almost unknown in Europe, yet nothing is agreed about its possible origins, context (ecclesiastical or secular), or why and how it was compiled. In the belief that historical interpretation has to stem from an intimate knowledge of the map as artefact—the state of the parchment, nature of the inks, palaeography—as well as image, an informal study group of historians and scientists (the Gough Map Panel) was convened in 2012 to examine the map through high resolution digital reproduction, hyperspectral analysis, three-dimensional analysis and Raman pigment analysis. Although the study is still ongoing, much that is new has been discovered, notably about the way features were marked on the map, Gough’s application to the map of a damaging reagent to render place-names readable, and the extent to which the original map (now dated to c.1400), although never completed, was nonetheless reworked on two different occasions in the fifteenth century, effectively creating two further maps. These and other findings are summarized here to encourage the further study of the map’s features that is needed before it can be fully understood.     

The status of phytolith analysis in the American tropics

Phytolith analysis is now sufficiently mature to provide an independent source of data in tropical paleoethnobotany and paleoecology. At the same time, ongoing studies of phytoliths from tropical plants and sediments are discovering new applications. There are, to be sure, problems in interpreting prehistoric plant use and paleoecology which cannot be addressed through phytolith analysis; some of the more important ones are listed. Through a review of recent studies in the New World tropics, this paper presents some contributions to, problems of, and prospects for phytolith analysis to inform the archaeological community about such issues as (1) the origins and dispersals of domesticated plants, (2) the development of tropical forest agriculture, (3) the uses of tropical plants in prehistory, and (4) the distribution and composition of past plant communities.     

Difficult heritage and digital media: ‘selfie culture’ and emotional practices at the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe

ABSTRACT

This article sheds light on the entanglements of difficult heritage and digital media through an ethnographic analysis of digital photography and social media practices at the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe in Berlin. After a discussion of the project ‘Yolocaust’, through which an artist publicly shamed the ‘selfie culture’ at the memorial, the article argues that the sweeping condemnation of digital self-representations in the context of Holocaust remembrance remains simplistic. Instead, many visitors explore and enact potential emotional relationships to the pasts that sites of difficult heritage represent through digital self-representations. This observation raises critical questions about the role of digital media in current transformations of touristic memory cultures.     

中国国家旅游感知形象调查

旅游目的地形象对旅游者的目的地选择行为和满意度都具有至关重要的作用和影响。本文应用问卷调查法、因子分析法、方差分析法、均值比较法,探索性地研究外国游客对中国的旅游感知形象。对外国游客认可的中国独特形象、影响外国游客对中国旅游认知形象的主导因素、不同外国游客对中国的旅游认知形象的差异进行了深入分析。最后,提出塑造和改善中国国家旅游形象的三点建议:塑造鲜明国家旅游形象,加大旅游市场营销力度;改善交通接待设施,着力优化旅游环境;更新换代旅游产品,提高旅游服务水平。本研究可为中国国家旅游形象设计和提高中国入境旅游业服务水平提供有益参考。